Fig. 23.
The projectors employed for lighting to a distance the surroundings of a stronghold or of a ship have likewise been applied in optical telegraphy. For this purpose Messrs. Sautter, Lemonnier & Co. have added to their usual projecting apparatus some peculiar arrangements that permit of occultations of the luminous focus at proper intervals. Figs. 21 and 22 show the arrangement of the apparatus, the principle of which is as follows: When the axis of the projector points toward the clouds, and in the direction occupied by a corresponding station, the occultations of the luminous source placed in the focus of the apparatus produce upon the clouds, which act as a screen, an alternate series of flashes and extinctions. It is therefore possible with this arrangement, and by the use of the Morse alphabet, to establish an optical communication at a distance. The use of this projector (the principal inconvenience of which is that it requires a clouded sky) even permits two observers who are hidden from each other by the nature of the ground to easily communicate at a distance of 36 or 48 miles.
USE OF THE PROJECTOR IN OPTICAL TELEGRAPHY.
Figs. 21 and 22.—FRONT VIEW AND LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE MANGIN PROJECTOR. (Scale 1/15). A. Elliptical mirror. B. Arm of the same. C. Nut for fixing the mirror. D. Support of the mirror. E. Occultator. F. Support for same. G. Lever for maneuvering the occultator. I. Support of the occultator rod. J. Screw for fixing the mirror support. K. Screw for fixing the support of the occultator rod. L. Screw for fixing the occultator support.
The apparatus shown in Figs. 21 and 22 permits of signaling in three ways:
1. Upon the Clouds.—In this case the mirror, A, is removed, and the projector inclined above the horizon in such a way as to illuminate the clouds to as great a distance as possible. A maneuver of the occultator, E, between the lamp and the mirror arrests the luminous rays of the source, or allows them to pass, and thus produces upon the clouds the dots and dashes of the conventional alphabet.
2. Isolated Communication by Luminous Fascicles.—When it is desired to correspond to a short distance of 2 or 3 miles, and establish a communication between two isolated posts, the mirror, A, is put in place upon its support, B. The luminous fascicle emanating from the source reflected by the mirror is thrown vertically. By revolving the mirror 90° around its horizontal axis the fascicle becomes horizontal, and may thus be thrown in a given direction at unequal intervals and during irregular times, and furnish conventional signs.
3. Night Communication upon the Entire Horizon.—When we wish to correspond at a short distance, say two miles, and make signals visible from the entire horizon, the mirror, A, is put in place, so that it shall reflect the luminous fascicle vertically. The fascicle, at a distance of about fifty feet, meets a white balloon which it renders visible from every point in the horizon. The maneuver of the occultator brings the balloon out of darkness or plunges it thereinto again, and thus produces the signs necessary for aerial communication.